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Contributor Executive Director Brady Banks and Managing Editor Amelia Ferrell Knisely recently traveled to Manchester, U.K., to attend the International Network of Street Paper’s 2017 Global Street Paper Summit. The conference, held annually around the world, brings together hundreds of street paper employees in an effort to provide support to papers, celebrate successes from the past year and learn about increasing vendor services and paper sales.

This year, 127 delegates from 54 street papers in 28 countries gathered from Aug. 22-24. The summit was hosted by Big Issue North, a street paper based in Manchester.

Along with educational workshops and keynote speakers, the summit also included the INSP Awards 2017. The Contributor was nominated for five awards, including:

Best News Feature – “Tomatoes: A War Story” by Amelia Ferrell Knisely;

Best Cover – “Yankee Doodle Disaster” designed by Michael Nott;

Best Campaign – #Boss Not Bum;

and Best Online Presence – new website launched in fall 2016.

“It is an honor to be a part of a broad network of committed, intelligent individuals and organizations like I’ve found at INSP," Banks said. “In so many ways, our peer papers and magazine examples inform and inspire our work at The Contributor as we press forward on becoming a stronger social enterprise.”

“The 2017 summit was an incredible opportunity to meet people from around the world, and around the U.S., working to give a voice to the voiceless,” Ferrell Knisely said. “I walked away with new friends, a network of support and inspiration for making The Contributor a better product for our vendors and readers.”

The event concluded with a sold-out fundraiser at the iconic O2 Ritz Manchester featuring acclaimed musician Frank Turner. The event, open to the public, benefited Big Issue North and INSP.

Next year’s summit will be hosted by Surprise in Basel, Switzerland.

INSP, launched in 1994, is made up of 110 street papers in 35 countries, published in 24 languages. Over the last year, more than 27,000 people have earned an income by selling a street paper.